Improve Outpatient Antibiotic Prescribing Using Publicly Available Data

Peer comparison audit and feedback could result in greater antibiotic prescribing improvements

Identifying Higher-Volume Antibiotic Outpatient Prescribers Using Publicly Available Medicare Part D Data

Antibiotic prescribing can result in side effects and contribute to antibiotic resistance, an urgent public health threat. In a recently released MMWR article, Identifying Higher-Volume Antibiotic Outpatient Prescribers Using Publicly Available Medicare Part D Data — United States, 2019, CDC authors found that in 2019, 41% of all Medicare Part D antibiotic prescriptions were prescribed by 10% of prescribers. This indicates that a small percentage of healthcare providers were responsible for prescribing a large number of antibiotic prescriptions.  Prioritizing higher-volume prescribers (the top 10% of antibiotic prescribers by volume) for outreach and interventions could result in larger improvements in antibiotic prescribing. Public health and health care organizations can use publicly available Medicare Part D prescription data to optimize antibiotic prescribing, limit the development of antibiotic resistance, and improve patient outcomes. You can help use these data for action with CDC’s one-page analytic guide on outpatient antibiotic prescription data for peer comparison audit and feedback.  For more information on improving antibiotic prescribing and use, visit www.cdc.gov/antibiotic-use.

	10% of prescribers account for 41% of all antibiotic prescriptions for Medicare Part D beneficiaries in 2019. Learn how higher-volume prescribers can be prioritized for antibiotic stewardship interventions to improve prescribing practices: https://bit.ly/34O3Qaq

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